The Incredibles 2 Flies To $18.5 Million In Thursday Previews

The Incredibles 2 had an incredible night at the Thursday box office. According to Box Office Mojo, the long awaited Pixar sequel brought in $18.5 million in Thursday preview showings, a record for an animated feature. (The movie easily topped previous record holder Finding Dory, which brought in $9.2 million.) The film also managed to top recent hits like Beauty and the Beast ($16.3 million), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($15.4 million), and Thor: Ragnarok ($14.5 million).

The Incredibles 2 brings back the Parr family, first introduced in 2004's The Incredibles. The movie features Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) getting recruited by a company looking to use her as the new face of superhero-dom, in a bid to make supers legal again. This leaves Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) home with the kids, including the angsty teen Violet (Sarah Vowell), the hyper speedster Dash (Huck Milner), and the especially difficult baby Jack-Jack. 

Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Catherine Keener, Sophia Bush, and Brad Bird also lend their voices to the film, which Bird wrote and directed. The movie has been a favorite with critics, earning a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and seems to be doing well with viewers as well, sitting at a 94 percent audience score on the same platform. The film is projected to easily beat out Finding Dory's record $135 million opening for an animated film, and could even bring in somewhere over $150 million in its debut.

This weekend's other big new release is the comedy Tag. The film stars Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner as a group of adult friends who are locked in a years long cross-country game of tag. With a journalist (Annabelle Wallis) following their every move, the friends get together to try to tag Renner's Jerry, who has never before been "it." 

Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, Leslie Bigg, Brian Dennehy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Thomas Middleditch, and Lil Rel Howery also star in Tag, which was directed by Jeff Tomsic (Idiotsitter) based on a script from Rob McKittrick (The Brothers Solomon) and Mark Steilen (Hall Pass). The film received mixed reviews from critics with a 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but did better with viewers, with a 76 percent audience score on the same platform. The movie, which brought in a solid $1.325 million in Thursday previews, is expected to take third place behind the second weekend of Ocean's 8 with somewhere around $15 to $17 million.

Also opening this weekend is Sony's Superfly remake, starring Grown-ish's Trevor Jackson as Youngblood Priest, an Atlanta drug dealer who has to complete one last job before getting out of the game for good. Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis, Jennifer Morrison, and Jacob Ming-Trent also star in the film, which was directed by Director X (Center Stage: On Pointe) based on a script from Alex Tse (Watchmen). The film also received mixed reviews from critics with a 52 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie, which opened on Wednesday to $1.2 million, will likely take in between $5 and $8 million in its five-day opening.